An additional account on the origin of the Dahman Shahwan strain
Hamad al-Jassir’s Usul al-Khayl al-Arabiyyah al-Hadithah has an interesting passage from the version of the Abbas Pasha Manuscript manuscript he consulted. This passage is not in the edition of the Manuscript that was published by the King Abd al-Aziz Public Library (KAPL) based on an original that was in the family of Gulsun Sharif. That original is now in the hands of a senior member of the Saudi Royal family.
The passage is from an account by Sayyid Sultan Ibn Sharaf the ruler of Turabah in the land of the tribe of al-Buqum about the origin of the Dahman Shahwan. As I had indicated elsewhere, this strain is the oldest attested of the modern strains of Arabian horses, going back to around 1280 CE. It is not yet possible to determine whether the passage which al-Jassir translated is the full account or only an except. Here it in any case:
The Sharif Sultan Bin Sharaf said: “The Duhm of Shahwan that are from Kunayhir were named after their owner Shahwan, the father of ‘Arar, the brother of Rashed, and the uncle of ‘Umayr. Their mention became famous because of events in relation with them. It is said that Shahwan was vanquished in some war; the mare of his son and that of his cousin were hamstrung, so he made the two ride with him on his mare, while he was also wearing a coat of mail, and they escaped from their enemies.
This additional account ties together Bedouin oral histories about the origin of the Dahman Shahwan strain with the folk stories about ‘Arar ibn Shahwan and his cousin ‘Umayr, in the epic of the Dayaghim. You may want to refer to my chapter on the origin of the strain of Dahman Shahwan in Judith Forbis’ book about Ansata Hejazi: Born to Rule.
Thanks Edouard for these treasures of knowledge!!!
Thank you for this. The more you post, the clearer it becomes to me that the history of the Arabian horse simply cannot be understood in isolation, and that it is so important to also learn about the history of the Bedouin.
Thank you for your reaction. Connecting the horses to their original custodians, their heritage and their history is the main objective of this blog.
Absolutely. The history of the Arabian horse cannot be understood without knowledge of the culture of the Bedouin.
The Bedouin and their horses cannot be separated if you want to maintain the authentic Arabian horse. The modern American halter Arab shows what happens when you do that.